E3 2004: StarCraft Ghost

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Over two years in the making, Nova is finally ready to strut her stuff. Hands-on impressions.

By IGN Staff

Sleek suited Nova gracefully steps into view. She takes the time to stretch (knowing things are bound to get messy) while she surveys the refinery lying across the canyon. Slowly, she approaches the structure and surveys the corrugated steel for telltale signs of infestation. Judging that she's relatively safe, she steps inside to find a dimly lit corridor decorated with crimson gore. Immediately on guard, she hunts for survivors -- all she finds is mutated zombie mechanics bent on ripping a hole through her shapely figure. Of course, stumbling mutants have no hope of matching Nova's grace, agility, and sharpshooter skills. Reconnaissance completed, Nova moves on to her next mission.

That's how you're introduced to StarCraft: Ghost, Blizzards newest addition to the StarCraft universe. Adored by countless PC gamers since 1997, when Blizzard released a little sci-fi RTS love, StarCraft is finally making its first real appearance on consoles (not counting the so-so port of the original StarCraft on the Nintendo 64). However, Ghost isn't your typical StarCraft excursion -- because this time you don't play the role of an all powerful general. You're a minion, even if you are a powerful psionic soldier in an elite group of Terran special forces. You'll take orders, head into danger, and all the while have to worry about your own skin. Of course, this third person game design brings with it a whole new look at the StarCraft universe.

Everything you see is how StarCraft's initial creators envisioned. You can finally see all the engraved detail on a Protoss Zealot's armor. The RTS can't capture the terrifying nature of a Hydralisk as its huge body lunges towards you. Ghost is here to make StarCraft fans flip out. Its scale representation gives you a whole new perspective on the world and a personal look at just how powerful these creatures are.

Nihilistic has spent a long two years working on Ghost. Plagued by many delays, the initial hype for the game has died down. But, now is the time for StarCraft veterans and virgins to restart their engines because StarCraft Ghost is scheduled to hit all consoles this year. Last week, IGN had a chance to step into the shoes of the Ghost operative Nova. We've braved Terran refineries, Zerg dwellings, and the Protoss homeland -- so gather round while we tell our tale.

Ghost is an interesting endeavor because it does two things well. It utilizes the StarCraft universe to its fullest -- not only are all creatures accurately represented but they're all set to the correct scale (which means you'll finally see what the StarCraft universe really looks like. Ghost also incorporates several interesting gameplay mechanics (namely Nova's Ghost abilities) to create a different brand of stealth. These two characteristics are blended together in such a way that you never feel like Nova's abilities are gimmicky -- they all make sense in the StarCraft world -- and her powers prove that this isn't simply a stealth game using the SC name to succeed.

Nova controls very well. She moves just as you'd imagine -- and it's all presented with fluid animation. The controls follow a very standard layout, movement and aim are mapped to the analog sticks, weapon fire is the right trigger, duck with the left trigger, the d-pad controls your psi-powers, and the face buttons initiate weapons mode, arms changes, jumps, and other context sensitive actions. Not only are they responsive, but the controls have been streamlined to eliminate frustration. If you want Nova to slide down a zip line, simply jump towards it and she'll automatically latch on. Want to jump up on top of a pipe? Simply jump and Nova will grab onto it. A friendly menu overlay lists your available actions -- such as climbing on top of the pipe to walk along it, dropping underneath it in order to shimmy across them, snipe from an upside down position, or drop to the floor.

Alongside her requisite stealth actions, Nova also has a slew of Ghost abilities that her kind is known for. Some drain her psionic powers (like sight and cloak) and others are context sensitive (call down and lock down). Although Nova's cloak will keep her out of sight, it doesn't make her completely disappear. Any noise she generates will alert surrounding enemies, whether they're Zerg, Protoss, or fellow Terrans. She'll also have to be wary of psionic detection devices, because they immediately disable cloaks. If her cloak isn't destroyed by a hostile, it's likely to peter out due to psi depletion (which does slowly regenerate). If Nova's in a jam, she'll be able to quickly charge her psi meter, but the maneuver leavers her completely open to enemy attack.

Currently, sight is Nova's freebie power. Its actual cost has yet to be determined (it may require a small chunk of psi energy), but it's such a useful tool that Blizzard may leave it as is. Operating like night vision, only interactive objects appear as anything other than varying shades of blue. Things you can kill/interact with/or will kill you glow orange. Sight also gives you an advantage over your position because it reveals your enemies' weak spots (instant kill), vision cone, and footprints.